Creating Building Solutions

As our process, and our software, improved, we became better organized and found it easier to get the work done while still taking the time to find more jobs.

When Building Solutions, an Oakland, California, based company, joined the home performance industry in June 2006, we knew that recent advances in building science gave homeowners more options—and left them asking more questions—than ever before. With so many choices out there, whether among simple solutions like envelope sealing, or among big, expensive investments like PV solar arrays, homeowners needed to know which choice best suited their house and their budget. Our primary goal was to get the necessary information into the hands of homeowners so they could make educated decisions on their own, without feeling bullied into making improvements they didn’t fully understand.
Of course, as anyone in the field knows, educating homeowners takes time. James Quazi, one of the founding partners at Building Solutions, had been working in the home performance industry for several years when he came to the conclusion that there had to be better, more efficient ways to get all the necessary information to the homeowner. That’s when he decided to enlist me as a partner—someone who came from a technical background, creating software solutions for just this kind of problem. Together we developed a Web application ...